More bikepacking stoves.....

Last night I couldn't sleep, so I decided I'd try a few different versions of the alcohol stoves.  If you look at the previous post and the link to the pedaling nowhere you can see the plans.  I opted for a small yac stove and the penny stove.

So you can see the three of them here....sorry about the bad picture.  The tall yac stove (yet another can stove) on the left, the penny stove (center), and the small yac stove currently running.  So, why build or have all these different models?  Basically, the height of the yac stove or the design difference of the penny stove yield different burn rates and characteristics. 

For example, the tall yac stove burns hot and fast and is best for just boiling water (in like 3.5 minutes), while the short yac stove burns longer 5+ minutes on one ounce of fuel and boils in about 5 minutes.  The penny stove burns even longer 10+ minutes on the same fuel and is more of a simmering option (well....it does boil but takes quite a while).  So, depending on what you want/need out of the stove, one design might be better than another.

Here you can see the lower flame profile of the small yac stove with the lights lower.  With the larger yac stove flames licks way up the sides of the kettle.  Anyway, nothing to do with biking but still pretty fun to experiment with.

Bikepacking...stove options.

I have in my head that I'm doing some type of back country bike trip (bikepacking).....at some point.  This is a great open ended way to play with new toys.  It's well documented that cyclist like toys.  Just look at the bike specific GPS, sunglasses, clothing, custom wheel sets, custom frames, the bazillion aftermarket parts available in shiny anodized colors, and everything that you can possibly form carbon fiber into!!!

In this case, however, the toys couldn't be more simple or less expensive.  I'm talking about stove options....specifically, light weight alcohol stoves. They look something like this:

Yep, all you need is a six-pack of cans (I prefer beer cans of course) and you can make several versions of these stoves.  Some require a few basic tools to construct, but I made my first one sitting at my desk at lunch with nothing more than a scissors and an exacto knife.  In fact, here it is making my coffee last week.

And yes, I realize I have a perfectly good coffee pot and press sitting right there.....but you're missing the point.

They take minutes to build and weigh in at under 10 grams (ten paper clips for us imperial system Americans)!  And it will boil water in ~3 minutes with only one ounce of alcohol as fuel!  So, if we need light weigh, small, and simple for bikepacking trips....these things are probably the answer.

So, if you like to experiment and make things (rather than use a complete reliable and commercially available model), this just might be the project for you.  I found out how to build them here at Pedaling Nowhere.

So give it a try and have some fun.

p.s.  These things burn alcohol....they are flammable....if you spill the alcohol on yourself, you are flammable....so be careful!!